***** File INTRODUC.TXT
INTRODUCTION
The Archive of Periodic Comet Giacobini-Zinner has been completed in
two versions, the digital and the printed, regardless of whether or not the
latter will be distributed. The comet's reduced observations belong to one of
the following disciplines or networks:
1. Astrometry.
2. Infrared Studies.
3. Large-Scale Phenomena.
4. Near Nucleus Studies.
5. Photometry and Polarimetry.
6. Radio Studies.
7. Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometry.
8. Amateur Observations.
The P/Giacobini-Zinner campaign has not involved the Meteor Streams
Studies Network. The Infrared Studies Network, the Photometry and Polarimetry
Network, the Radio Studies Network, and the Amateur Observations Network are
organized into the following subnetworks:
Infrared Studies Subnetworks:
2.1. Infrared Photometry.
2.2. Infrared Polarimetry.
2.3. Infrared Spectroscopy.
2.4. Infrared Imaging.
Photometry and Polarimetry Subnetworks:
5.1. Broadband Photometry.
5.2. Narrowband Photometry.
5.3. Polarimetry.
Radio Studies Subnetworks:
6.1. Hydroxyl Feature at 18 cm.
6.2. Spectral Line.
6.3. Continuum.
6.4. Occultation.
Amateur Observations Subnetworks:
8.1. Visual-Appearance Descriptions.
8.2. Drawings.
8.3. Photographs.
The digital version of the Archive, stored on a CD-ROM, includes a
number of subdirectories, each of which contains one or more files with
relevant explanations. One of the subdirectories, called EPHEM, provides the
comet's geocentric ephemeris (equinox and mean equator 1950.0) for midnight
Universal Time of each day, covering the interval of observations. In the
printed version of the Archive the reduced observations are integrated
chronologically by date and by network for each date. The ephemeris is in this
version listed with the observations for each date, preceding the data of the
first network that was active.
The digital Archive is written in the Flexible Image Transport
System (FITS) format (Wells, Greisen, and Harten, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl.
Ser. 44, 363-370, 1981; Greisen and Harten, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 44,
371-374, 1981; Grosbol, Harten, Greisen, and Wells, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl.
Ser. 73, 359-364, 1988; Harten, Grosbol, Greisen, and Wells, Astron.
Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 73, 365-372, 1988). The data appear either as part of
FITS headers or in FITS data records or in table extensions. The FITS
headers consist of keywords, some of which are mandatory (dictated by use of
the FITS format or stipulated by IHW), while others were selected, as
needed, by the Discipline Specialist Team and apply only to specific
networks. With the exception of the digitized images supplied by the
Large-Scale Phenomena Network, the data are combined into a number of
subdirectories. The large-scale images appear both uncompressed and
compressed and they are included in separate subdirectories. The digital
Archive is also accompanied by three types of indices: quick-look, printed-
archive, and network-specific (see subdirectories DOCUMENT and INDEX for
additional information).
The evaluation of submitted observations and their selection for the
Archive has primarily been the responsibility of the Discipline Specialist
Teams in charge of the networks. To expound the process of evaluation,
reduction, and formatting of the database, each Discipline Specialist Team has
provided network by network, an outline and a data-organization description
of both the digital and the printed versions of the Archive. This
documentation follows the Introduction. It is supplied to facilitate the
user's orientation in the Archive and to furnish information on the reduction
procedures employed to obtain the archived results from the measured data.
Table I of each network's section lists the names, affiliations, and
responsibilities of the members of the Discipline Specialist Team.
Appended to the descriptive section of the Archive is a table of the
observatories and instruments, the 8-digit system codes, and the geographic
coordinates; and a table of country codes. The observatories with and without
the IAU assigned codes are listed separately. The countries are tabulated both
alphabetically and by code. In addition, the printed version of the Archive
displays histograms of the distributions of each network's observations.
This Archive is a result of major efforts on the part of a large
number of individuals, from the observers to the Discipline Specialist Teams
to the personnel of the two Lead Centers. The user has in his hands
information that in the absence of this Archive would either remain
unpublished or would have to be acquired through a time-consuming search in
the literature. We therefore consider it fair to request the users that
this document be acknowledged in the references of any of their publications
that employ the data presented here.
Zdenek Sekanina
Editor
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, California 91109
U.S.A.
Pasadena, March 1989